2 more murders push toll to 16

MERE hours after leaving the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court, where they faced a number of gun-related charges, two Laventille men were gunned down in broad daylight along Nelson Street, Port of Spain, in what police described as a gang-related attack.

The two men were Ishmael Bain, 19, who lived with his family at Snake Valley, Laventille, while the other victim, Derrick “Warlord,” Joseph, 23, lived at Hamlet Trace in Laventille.

Police said that around 12.05 p.m. the two men were walking through an apartment complex off Nelson Street when they were ambushed.

Both received gunshots to their heads at close range and they died instantly.

A team of officers, including Insp Sahadeo Singh of the Besson Street CID and Insp Lawrence of the Homicide Bureau, visited the scene and conducted enquiries.

Officers from the Crime Scene Unit were also there and cordoned off the upper half of Nelson Street as they hunted for clues.

Quite a few Nelson Street residents also came out of their homes, but they denied knowing the men or even what happened.

Joan Bain, the mother of Ishmael Bain, arrived on the scene shortly after 1 p.m.

She did not say much when pressed by reporters but blamed her son’s friends for his demise.

She said he had dropped out of school and spoke quietly as she said her son had “bad friends” he used to lime with in Port of Spain.

Asked how she felt she said, “Normal.”

The police however said they knew both Joseph and Bain very well.

Investigators explained that both men had a number of cases pending for gun and ammunition possession along with shooting with intent.

Homicide Bureau officers are continuing investigations.

In another incident, a St James man who the police described as having a “very colourful” history was gunned down on Sunday night. His body was only found yesterday morning.

Police said that around 9.30 p.m. residents of Fort George in Long Circular, St James, heard several loud explosions that they thought were fireworks.

No-one called the police but around 5.30 a.m. yesterday a resident on his way to work found the body of 38-year-old Tristan “Trish” McLean lying dead in a dirt track in the area.

A team of St James CID and Homicide Bureau officers later visited the scene, where they conducted enquiries.

Speaking to the Express yesterday investigators said McLean had a number of gun-related and assault matters pending in the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court.

Another man who said he knew him well described him as a “neighbourhood bully,” who recently stabbed a young man in the area because the boy refused to give him five dollars.

“The youth man nearly dead, yuh know,” said the man to the Express. He did not want to be named.

Homicide Bureau officers are continuing investigations

Up to last night, the year’s murder toll stood at 16 while the toll up to January 7 last year was three.